Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of detecting malware on a computer.
Background of the Related Art
Malicious software, known as malware, is any software that was prepared with a malicious intent to take actions against the objectives of a compute owner or administrator. The term “malware” includes, without limitation, computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, and scareware. Some malware is hidden in legitimate files to avoid detection.
Current malware and virus detection systems rely on comparing files to definitions or signatures of known viruses or malware. When a file is found to include code that matches one of the signatures, a user may be notified and the file may be quarantined or deleted. However, as a computer file system grows, there is a substantial increase in the length of time and system resources it takes to scan all the files. At a certain point, these scans may hinder usage of a system.